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Opinion: Look for the NFL Draft to mimic its remote coverage of 2020 in future telecasts

In this still image from video provided by the NFL, Commissioner Roger Goodell speaks just before the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 23, 2020.(Photo: AP)

In this still image from video provided by the NFL, Henry Ruggs III, center, gets ready to put on a Las Vegas Raiders cap after being selected by the team in the first round of the NFL football draft Thursday, April 23, 2020. (NFL via AP)(Photo: AP)

BATON ROUGE — I have never liked watching the NFL Draft on television.

Too much glitter and too many bright lights, suits and showing off. It reminded me too much of the ESPYs Award Show.

Then high school players started following suit in signing day press conferences, and have been so intent on calling attention to themselves that they didn't bother to learn how to pronounce the name of the school they just chose. Maybe that will change, too, now.

Commentary

Because this first NFL Remote Draft was great.

Instead of repetitive posturing on the big stage, we got Alabama wide receiver Henry Ruggs III — the No. 12 pick of the first round by the Las Vegas Raiders — in his robe in his parents' living room. Awesome.

Seeing the coaches and owners in their homes was like a watching a combination of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" and "House Hunters."

You got Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on his yacht on a couch, which probably cost more than some really nice boats.

You got Arizona coach Kliff Kingsbury looking as lonely and overly opulent as Charles Foster Kane at his Xanadu. But you also got Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid in his basement looking as Everyman as Al Bundy, and he just won the Super Bowl — something that has evaded Captain Jones for a quarter of a century now.

You got the first pick of the draft, former LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, in a T-shirt with his parents on the sofa in The Plains, Ohio. It was refreshingly simple.

Seeing families in their homes watch their lives change on live TV as if they just won the lottery was at times breathtaking, silly, funny, and poignant.

Former LSU quarterback Joe Burrow hears that he is the first overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft by Cincinnati in this still photo provided by the NFL at his parents' home in The Plains, Ohio. His mother Robin Burrow is on his right with his dad Jimmy Burrow on his left.(Photo: AP)

"It's unbelievable to watch these guys seeing their dreams unfold right in front of the camera," Saints coach Sean Payton said on ESPN, and he was not even asked about the television coverage. He segued into it while answering a question about his first-round pick, Cesar Ruiz, who broke into tears when Payton picked him at No. 24.

New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton is seen on the sidelines during the first half of an NFL football game in Charlotte, N.C., Sunday, Dec. 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Brian Blanco)(Photo: Brian Blanco, AP)

"This has gone so well," Payton told ESPN Draft host Trey Wingo. "And I know there's a way you're used to doing things, but I wouldn't be surprised to see maybe some adjustments made, because I think the fan loves to see a little bit more of the interaction with each of these draft picks in their houses, rather than in some setting maybe where they're all in their suits."

And Payton usually doesn't watch much TV during the draft, as he is usually on the phone more than a Jerry Lewis telethon worker because of his addiction to trades.

Yes, through serendipity because of the coronavirus that forced the NFL to a remote draft, ESPN, ABC and the NFL Network accidentally re-learned something. It is what television news and sports pioneer Roone Arledge, the father of "Monday Night Football," invented as the president of ABC Sports from 1968-76 — "Up Close and Personal" coverage.

"I just think it's been interesting," Payton said.

Even NFL commissioner Roger Goodell came off as a good guy. He stumbled a little bit, got tired, but in his basement wearing his Ward Cleaver sweater, he looked like a neighbor from whom you might borrow an extension cord.

Goodell also understands marketing. Early in his career at the NFL, he worked as a public relations assistant.

Goodell has made many mistakes as the NFL commissioner, particularly his handling of then-Baltimore running back Ray Rice assaulting his fiancee in 2014. He could have handled San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick's disrespect of the national anthem and the fallout from that better. He has ignored the concussion risks NFL players face as he still wants an 18-game regular season.

The smartest move by Goodell was keeping the NFL Draft on its original, pre-virus schedule. With everything else in the sports world ending in March or in the process of being rescheduled, the draft remained because it was able to adjust. It's also made for TV. No stadium or arena needed.

The draft coverage gave people thirsting for sports a long weekend fix that is current, which "The Last Dance" documentary on the Chicago Bulls of the 1990s can't say no matter how good that is and will be. And it is great.

The draft is not a game, but it sure has attracted viewers as if it was a Super Bowl.

But this one attracted more viewers than ever. The coverage of the first night last Thursday averaged a record 15.6 million viewers. The previous high was 12.4 million in 2014. From 7:45 to 8 p.m. Thursday, 19.6 million were watching, according to the Nielsen ratings — a full 8 million more than last year.

In between the draft picks, we saw interviews with medical officials who are the ones who really understand the virus. We watched real health care workers, who also know more about the virus than anyone. We watched those who have had it, including Payton, and can can speak to it better than most. We heard people say that we'll beat this, but now is the time to still be safe and smart.

It was inspiring. It was refreshingly positive, refreshingly not political, and refreshingly non-partisan, particularly if you looked at it from a non-partisan point of view to begin with, which is almost impossible for so many these days.

"The theme of hope is always prevalent in the NFL, especially with regard to the draft," Goodell said and continued with just the right touch. "In 2020, that's especially true, as we help honor healthcare workers, first responders, and others on the front lines of the battle with COVID-19 while giving our fans something to cheer about as we celebrate the next generation of NFL stars."

Maybe not quite a fireside chat, but it was hard not to feel togetherness against a common opponent — the virus — while following that American passion of football.

"I feel like we're doing good, I mean this as a country," Payton said. "And we're in the third quarter, maybe the early fourth quarter. I hate to use that example, but we're talking about taking our starters out of the game with a 10-point lead. And I feel like we've got to be smart about this."

Some may say Payton got a little political, but really, he was using common sense. It's not over yet, no matter how badly people want it to be.

"But I think our leadership will pay close attention to it," he said with balance. "I think when the time is right, we'll be back."

The coverage included no ridiculous comparisons of the flu to the coronavirus, any talk that it is a hoax, or of a crazed disinfectant-injection cleaning - sarcastic or otherwise.

One of the best draft coverage moments was the address by Dr. Anthony Fauci, a physician and infectious disease expert who has been director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984.

"The outbreak has really transformed what we can do right now and even made unclear what the future looks like, at least the immediate future," he said. "I know it (social distancing) is unusual. I know it disturbs the normal pattern, but it really is for your good and the good of the country. So, the best thing we can do now is hope for the best and hope that sooner or later — hopefully sooner — we can get back to some form of normality where we can all enjoy the sport we love so much."

Fauci's statements were reassuring, accurate, and informative. In fact, they were presidential, and there just has not been enough of that.